\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/53863300161_565850d2d9_o.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
The bigwigs of the tech and venture are rallying around Donald Trump. But Silicon Valley\u2019s longtime chronicler Kara Swisher is having none of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really problematic when a very small group of incredibly wealthy people control the access to the person in power,\u201d Swisher said on stage Wednesday at Fortune\u2019s annual Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah. She added: \u201cI\u2019m not naive, and don\u2019t think that rich people don\u2019t control levers of power over the many, many decades or centuries our country has been in power. But this sort of explicit grab for power has worked really nicely for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the conversation, Swisher raised concerns specifically about former president Trump\u2019s choice for vice president\u2014J.D. Vance\u2014who was introduced to Trump via PayPal<\/a> cofounder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Swisher accused venture capitalists and tech CEOs like Craft Ventures\u2019 David Sacks, Thiel, and Elon Musk of \u201cpushing him up for years\u201d despite what she alleges is a lack of experience needed for the role: \u201cHe\u2019s quite inexperienced but now is one second away from power if Trump wins,\u201d Swisher said.<\/p>\n She also weighed in on Tuesday\u2019s announcement from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who said in a YouTube<\/a> video that they intended to back former president Donald Trump in the upcoming 2024 election. The two investors, who run one of Silicon Valley\u2019s most powerful VC firms, argue in the video that a Trump administration would have better policies when it comes to crypto, AI, and other technology issues important to U.S. innovation and startups.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Swisher\u2019s view, a much simpler motivation is driving the political activism of VCs like Andreessen, who she said she has \u201cspent a lot of time with\u201d over the years. \u201cTo say he has any political leanings\u2014He believes in himself.\u00a0 He loves himself and money and that\u2019s pretty much it. And Ben is the same way. They don\u2019t care about the other parts of the platforms,\u201d she said. (An Andreessen Horowitz spokeswoman declined to comment.)<\/p>\n The rising political influence of Silicon Valley\u2019s elite, and the sharp and vocal turn to the right, is a notable shift for the tech industry, which historically sought to remain outside the fray of partisan politics. That began to change in 2016, when Peter Thiel spoke at the Republican Convention and endorsed Trump in his first bid for the presidency.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re very much interested in power and control of the government, and they have disdain for the government. I wouldn\u2019t say hatred, just utter disdain, and they want to burn it down,\u201d Swisher said. \u201cIt\u2019s been something Peter Thiel has talked about, Marc Andreessen\u2014all of them over the years\u2014and instead of doing it in a violent way, they\u2019ve done it using their money and power and whatever means they have to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking at Fortune\u2019s Brainstorm Tech conference earlier this week, Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha said<\/a> the VC firm would remain politically neutral, even as individual partners at the firm have personally endorsed and supported candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Swisher has covered tech\u2014and critiqued it\u2014throughout her three-decade career, taking frequent jabs at entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Sacks, and conducting memorable interviews with figures like Apple<\/a> cofounder Steve Jobs and Microsoft<\/a> cofounder Bill Gates. Referencing \u201cBurn Book,\u201d her recently released account of her years covering the industry, Swisher said that everything tech executives do \u201c has to do with their business and self-interest\u2026I\u2019d rather they act like investment bankers, who we all know why they\u2019re there, which is to make money.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be fooled,\u201d Swisher said. \u201cThey\u2019re not here to save you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\nRecommended Newsletter:<\/strong><\/p>\n